]]>What are your best chances of getting the best outcome for your Startup? Having a firm grip on the drivers of valuation for your tech Startup, with the optimization of your investment can boost your chances of scaling up your venture.

Various factors, do contribute to the exponential growth of your Startups, such as the type of business you operate, its life-cycle, assets of talents available to you in that field and the market forces in your region. All these, do impact on the valuation of your Startup.

Taking the route of a valuation process presents an advantage in scaling Startups. Below are some of the methodologies required in the valuation of Startups:

Revenue multiple valuations
This method considers the market sales price commonly used in measuring the value of Startups. One method used, is to gather insights from Startups, who have previously raised fund in the Startups ecosystem.

The revenue multiple valuations are comparable to the Discounted Cash Flow, (DCF), which will be discussed next.

Discounted cash flow
Most investors accept this valuation method approach because of its simplicity in breaking down the points of evaluation in defined periods. The analysis considers a projected cash flow for a period of three to 10 years.

With a projected turnover that can be reliable and assured through patronage from existing clients, this model is assumed to be sufficient to get potential investors on your side.

Note that this is not always true, especially, if your business is at its early stage. If this is so, then, you may have to try another valuation method.

Gross Market Value (GMV)
The GMV methodology is commonly used by digital platforms, as this approach enables them to assess the potentiality in market penetration, thus, giving them the leverage to arrive at a valuation that they can defend in the presence of investors.

Assumptions gathered from the Revenue Multiplier assessment and DCF, can be used to back up this approach.

Cost to replicate method
This approach as one of the valuation methods is useful in assisting Startups to replicate a no-revenue business that has designed a substantial IP.

You should ask yourself this question, as a Startup; what would it cost an investor to replicate what you have built? Months or years, millions in cash, perhaps.

Investors have been around for long not to understand the dynamics of valuation methods for a business model, especially, that of a Startup, therefore, the onus lies on you to have sufficient knowledge on how to present your business to them, for them to be interested in investing in your Startup.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/valuation-methods-startup/feed/054595Aware of the New Google Algorithm Update? Your Website Rankings May be Affectedhttps://cfamedia.ng/new-google-algorithm-update/
https://cfamedia.ng/new-google-algorithm-update/#respondThu, 21 Mar 2019 08:40:03 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54593Recently, Google updated its core algorithm and you might have observed one or two changes in the search engine rankings of your site or probably the traffic it generates. On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, Google launched a project called, “March 2019 Core Algorithm Update”. These changes would have an effect on the Search Engine Optimization, […]

]]>Recently, Google updated its core algorithm and you might have observed one or two changes in the search engine rankings of your site or probably the traffic it generates.

On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, Google launched a project called, “March 2019 Core Algorithm Update”. These changes would have an effect on the Search Engine Optimization, (SEO), of most sites.

Algorithm updates by Google are carried out regularly, but they do not make a formal announcement on the changes, or, the updates, as they are not easily noticeable by non-techies, but SEO experts easily detect these changes on the algorithm.

This is because these shifts impacts websites. Google formally confirmed the updates, after answering questions about the algorithm shift online.

Despite this, Google is yet to state how the algorithm has changed, or, on how to go about the changes. Not giving out this information is as expected because hardly does the giant tech company give an explanation on its algorithm changes. In exceptional cases, it can release information in the update, like the effectiveness of Google search on mobile i.e., mobile responsiveness.

Users have been advised by Google, to check out their information on updates done previously, each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused around specific improvements.

Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely, several times per year. As with any update, some sites may not drop or gain. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages previously under-rewarded,” Google stated.

Insights from research by SEO experts have not really indicated any huge difference. Some are viewing the updates as a downgrade of the former updates on the algorithm.

With the present algorithm, websites that had gone down in ranking previously have seen a shoot up in the ranking. Indications on the new updates are probably that, there is an equilibrium that the giant tech company wants to address.

“How can I fix my site?”, that is the most popular question users ask on Google algorithm updates, however, your focus should remain on building great content for your site.

Aside from this, you should keep on adding new content to your site. Great content that matches what your readers are searching for. This is an important SEO strategy that, you should not overlook.

The way the algorithm on Google was designed, is for it to match the users’ search query. This way, you ensure high chances of getting your site ranked, due to high-quality content that you have on your site.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/new-google-algorithm-update/feed/054593Tech Trends: Changing The Role Of Photography With Digital Technologyhttps://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-changing-the-role-of-photography-with-digital-technology/
https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-changing-the-role-of-photography-with-digital-technology/#respondThu, 21 Mar 2019 05:26:28 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54590On this edition of Tech Trends show on Channels Television, News on changing the role of photography with digital technology was reeled to the viewers. Please, watch it here You can watch more on Tech Trends playlist. Airing time of Tech Trends on Channels TV can be found here.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-changing-the-role-of-photography-with-digital-technology/feed/054590Founder Institute set to improve on entrepreneurship values, through Pre-Seed Accelerationhttps://cfamedia.ng/founder-institute-entrepreneurship/
https://cfamedia.ng/founder-institute-entrepreneurship/#respondWed, 20 Mar 2019 12:38:45 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54568In a world where people crave for a sense of independence, working without being answerable to a direct boss, who is always on your neck, is always a welcome development, any day. You set out to become an entrepreneur, but you never really did fulfill the dream, or, better still, you get started, but your […]

]]>In a world where people crave for a sense of independence, working without being answerable to a direct boss, who is always on your neck, is always a welcome development, any day.

You set out to become an entrepreneur, but you never really did fulfill the dream, or, better still, you get started, but your venture fails at an early stage. One of the major reasons identified over the years on business failure at an early stage is lack of feedback.

Founder Institute is set to start operations in Lagos, Nigeria, as four newly appointed Nigerian Directors of Founder Institute were present at a media briefing on its launch at the premises of GoDoHub, at 53, Oladipo Bateye Street, GRA, Ikeja, on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan and it is based in Palo Alto, California, USA. It is setting the ball rolling for building scalable business models across the African continent.

What is the Founder Institute (FI)?
Founder Institute is an organization that assists entrepreneurs in building enduring companies, with a support network invested in their success and through a structured business process.

The very common phrase peculiar to Startup entrepreneurs is, “I lost money”, and this leads to more than 90% of them failing to scale in their first 2 years of commencing business, irrespective of whether they were able to raise funds or not.

“The model of the Founder Institute isn’t like Seed Accelerator, nor Angel/VC platform for hackathon challenges and pitching, but a Pre-Seed Accelerator, helping teams and Founders to validate, launch and support their businesses with mentoring and structured processes”, stated Wande Adalemo, one of the four Directors.

FI already has two centers in Lagos, to serve potential applicants from a different axis and these include, The Godo Hub, GRA, Ikeja, and NG hub, Yab.

“The FI model was created for corporate executives, every aspiring entrepreneur is a potential FI graduate”, stressed Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr, another Director of Founder Institute.

Business models for founders and teams often come in three stages, namely, the ideas stage, prototype stage, and early company stage.

Idea stage

“Only about 10% of businesses succeed in the first two years, while 90% fail in the first five years”, remarked Wande

With tons of ideas generated daily, the urge of trying your model outcomes with a spark. If you are able to obtain capital, you might end up in the cycle of trial and error, probably due to not having sufficient knowledge of the product market.

The FI model will validate and improve this same idea, strategy, and pitch, find Co-Founders, early team members, advisors and finally, launching your company through a step by step progress.

Prototype Stage
At this stage, your business has a market value proposition. The FI model gets expert feedback for making smarter product decisions, secure advisors who would look into existing data to give you current insights, partners to grant you access to a market they already belong to and key hires. Nailing your go-to-market is also part of your take home.

Early company
At this stage, you have an organization generating revenue. The FI grants you expert insight on data, to gain more traction. Secure advisors, partners, key hires, as the prototype stage, but in addition, you get to meet investors. Finally, launching an enduring business, with a global network.

The classes for the Founders take place at weekends and there would be a series of free Startup events for the general public, commencing with its event at Freedom Park on Thursday, March 28, 2019. It is an avenue for attendees to learn more about the program and get to know how to build a company.

Cross section of the media present

FI global view
The Pre-Seed Accelerator is in over 60 countries around the world, spreading over 175 cities. The graduate portfolio value is over $20billion. It has more than 30 graduate companies, with $700 million raised from investors. Founder Institute Graduate companies include fast-rising startups across 6 continents like Udemy, Realty Mogul, Travelcar, goplaceit, Appota, and many more.

The Founder Institute is the only program of its kind that focuses on people versus ideas, accepts Founders with day jobs and shares equity with all participants. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing Startups have used Founder Institutes program to transition from employee to entrepreneur, test their Startup ideas, build a team, get their first customers, raise funding and more.

Based in Silicon Valley the Founder Institute’s mission, is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/founder-institute-entrepreneurship/feed/054568Tech Entrepreneurs, Driving Change in Africa and changing the narrativehttps://cfamedia.ng/tech-entrepreneurs-change-africa/
https://cfamedia.ng/tech-entrepreneurs-change-africa/#respondWed, 20 Mar 2019 10:06:14 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54560The usage of the internet in many parts of the world, is regarded as a luxury, rather than a necessity and with the United Nations, declaring access to the internet as a basic human right, the expectation is that internet access should be easily available to all, as it is a factor that drives innovation. […]

]]>The usage of the internet in many parts of the world, is regarded as a luxury, rather than a necessity and with the United Nations, declaring access to the internet as a basic human right, the expectation is that internet access should be easily available to all, as it is a factor that drives innovation.

Unfortunately, many countries on the African continent lack internet facilities, let alone technology to drive effective innovation and this has thrown a cog in the wheel of progress on the continent when it comes to innovative technology.

In recent times, revolutionary minds on the continent have come up with initiatives designed to make technology more accessible.

We have come up with a list of five tech entrepreneurs in Africa and how they are bridging the digital gap, through the invention of applications and devices.

Apps Fight Food Shortage
In 2008, when Zimbabwe experienced a food shortage, Tatenda Ndambakuwa came up with an initiative to curb food shortage in the country. She founded Shiri, a web application Startup that designs information and resources on agriculture for farmers on the continent.

With this app, farmers can manage their food production system that minimizes the chances of food shortage. The Shiri team intends growing the farming ecosystem network of farmers in Africa.

Malaria Testing
The challenge of malaria still persists in the tropics, which has not left out Africa from the mix. In Uganda, a young Brian Gitta is set on the path of eradicating the endemic that has been ravaging the tropical African population.

As Malaria has affected about 90% of the population, Brian was not left out, as he was also attacked by the deadly disease. After traditional blood testing failed to diagnose the ailment, he set himself on the path of inventing a device that could diagnose malaria without drawing blood.

Brian bagged the Africa Prize for innovation in Engineering after he invented Matibabu, a malaria testing device that detects the ailment without drawing blood. Brian hopes that the device would spread across Africa.

Girls Education
In most parts of Africa, the education of the girl child is a serious challenge, let alone giving them the opportunity to express themselves in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

Maneo Mapharisa, Founder of Girls Coding Academy, is changing the narrative, by encouraging a pursuit in these fields, for young girls in South Africa. With access to technology, these girls will have the opportunity to increase the participation of the female gender in the field.

This participation, in return, is a potential playground for these girls to contribute their quota to the economic development of the country.

Trash to Tech Treasure
An estimated 500, 000 tons of e-waste is generated in Togo annually, but this challenge threw up an innovative creation. Ousia Foli-Bebe, in his late 20s, has turned this e-waste into 3D printers and spider robots.

Ecotec Lab, the Startup, is bringing about an electronic revolution to the country. Along the way, jobs are created, as a rise in demand for technology is an opening market in the country, for people interested in getting refurbished electronics.

Inventing Inventors
Charles Ofori Antipem, Founder of Dext Technology, is making available, electrical devices for increased participation in experiments, by students in secondary schools.

Antipem is teaching these students with electronic devices, as compared to how they are taught traditionally, using chalk and blackboards.
With these experimentations, young students in Ghana and the neighboring countries are encouraged to imbibe the culture of invention, especially, in the electrical/electronic field.

In the evolution of technology on the globe, Startups and tech entrepreneurs in Africa should be given the enabling environment, to explore all possible ways to develop the potentials of innovation on the continent.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/tech-entrepreneurs-change-africa/feed/054560Tech Trends: World Famous Pianist And Virtual Singer Holds Joint Hologram Concert In Chinahttps://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-world-famous-pianist-and-virtual-singer-holds-joint-hologram-concert-in-china/
https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-world-famous-pianist-and-virtual-singer-holds-joint-hologram-concert-in-china/#respondWed, 20 Mar 2019 06:14:39 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54556On this edition of Tech Trends show on Channels Television, News on how a world famous pianist and virtual singer, held joint hologram concert in China was showcased to the viewers. Please, watch it here You can watch more on Tech Trends playlist. Airing time of Tech Trends on Channels TV can be found here.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-world-famous-pianist-and-virtual-singer-holds-joint-hologram-concert-in-china/feed/054556EZ-farming, Nigerian Agritech Startup, staking its claim in Investmenthttps://cfamedia.ng/ez-farming-agritech-startup-investment/
https://cfamedia.ng/ez-farming-agritech-startup-investment/#respondTue, 19 Mar 2019 12:12:08 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54527Nigerian Agritech Startup, EZ-farming, recently mentioned that its strategic model is moving the small scaled farmers into the path of commercial-sized farming ventures. The Startup also stated its unrelenting efforts in equipping the next generation of young farmers. With the implosion of the Agritech space in Africa, the Startup has pledged high return on investment, […]

]]>Nigerian Agritech Startup, EZ-farming, recently mentioned that its strategic model is moving the small scaled farmers into the path of commercial-sized farming ventures. The Startup also stated its unrelenting efforts in equipping the next generation of young farmers.

With the implosion of the Agritech space in Africa, the Startup has pledged high return on investment, (ROI), open new opportunities for investment in the industry and providing insurance packages for farmers within its grip.

The Startup with its focus on commercial farming is aiming to be the best Agritech platform for investors, as it claimed that, it would offer the highest ROI.

Recently, the Startup bagged the champion’s prize and the People’s Choice Award, at the 2019 Georgetown African Business Conference New Venture Competition. The challenge was hosted by the Young African Professionals at Georgetown University, USA. The award is in recognition of what the Startup is bringing to the business aspect of Agriculture.

Adewale Oparinde, Founder of EZ-farming did not hide his excitement about the award, as he remarked that, the feat is a recognition of the input by the Startup, in investment, as far as the Nigerian agricultural sector is concerned.

“We are delighted to have won the contest here in Washington DC. It is our first outing, after several months of inventing our business model, to meet the demands and dynamics of the market. We took our time, since 2015, to conduct thorough research in designing our business model”, he stressed.

In the Agritech space, it is not just about designing an application, or, building a website to connect farmers to sponsors because of the disposition to a proposition, but the effectiveness of such apps is in the comprehension of the technicalities involved in making them work for the agricultural space.

Adewale stressed the experience of its team members in the Agritech space and how important they are set up, to build a sustainable business that investors can trust. He further stated the challenges faced by transfer of knowledge base by senior citizens, to the young and energetic farmers.

EZ-farming intends to create a platform that connects the old and young farmers, to establish the next generation of farmers having the current digital skills combined with experience.

According to the Founder, EZ-farming is the first Agritech platform that uses crowdfunding to enlarge small scale farmers into commercial farming, while making a connection for unemployed youths, through internship and funds to start their own farms.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/ez-farming-agritech-startup-investment/feed/054527Tech Trends: Kenya’s Ride Hailing Company, ‘Little’, To Expand Into Tanzania, Ghanahttps://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-kenyas-ride-hailing-company-little-to-expand-into-tanzania-ghana/
https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-kenyas-ride-hailing-company-little-to-expand-into-tanzania-ghana/#respondTue, 19 Mar 2019 04:36:36 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54518On this edition of Tech Trends show on Channels Television, a News Feature on Kenya’s ride hailing company, ‘Little’. expanding to other African countries was showcased to the viewers. Please, watch it here You can watch more on Tech Trends playlist. Airing time of Tech Trends on Channels TV can be found here.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/tech-trends-kenyas-ride-hailing-company-little-to-expand-into-tanzania-ghana/feed/054518Google Launchpad Africa; meet the 12 African Startupshttps://cfamedia.ng/google-launchpad-africa-startups/
https://cfamedia.ng/google-launchpad-africa-startups/#respondMon, 18 Mar 2019 14:25:08 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54509For the third cohort of its Launchpad Accelerator, Google has revealed the names of the 12 Startups it has selected from 17 African countries. In addition to this, Google also revealed the names of the Startups selected for its accelerators, based in India and Brazil. The 12 selected Startups for its accelerator include four from […]

]]>For the third cohort of its Launchpad Accelerator, Google has revealed the names of the 12 Startups it has selected from 17 African countries. In addition to this, Google also revealed the names of the Startups selected for its accelerators, based in India and Brazil.

The 12 selected Startups for its accelerator include four from Kenya, three from Nigeria, two from South Africa, while Egypt, Uganda, and Senegal have one representative each.

After the applications for the cohorts closed on Sunday, January 13, 2019, Google has reviewed up to 1000 applications in the three regions.

More than 20 teams of Google engineers gave intensive mentoring to the participants, who also got open access to Silicon Valley. It also afforded them the opportunity to partner with Google for three months.

Announced in mid-2017, the Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa would last till 2020. The initiative would see an investment of $3 million in equity-free support and free access to experts from the Silicon Valley for the three-year period of the program.

The eligible Startups across Sub-Saharan Africa must be technologically based, with the African target in mind and must have raised seed funding.
Google remarked on a blog post,

“The Startups chosen represent those using technology to create a positive impact on key industries in their region and we look forward to supporting them and connecting them with Startup ecosystems around the world,”

According to the accelerator, Google’s Launchpad Africa has created 253 jobs, having raised over $12 million during the course of the program in November 2018.

]]>https://cfamedia.ng/google-launchpad-africa-startups/feed/054509Leverage digital platforms and tell the right stories; Emilia urges Nigerian Startupshttps://cfamedia.ng/leverage-digital-platforms-and-tell-the-right-stories-emilia-urges-nigerian-startups/
https://cfamedia.ng/leverage-digital-platforms-and-tell-the-right-stories-emilia-urges-nigerian-startups/#respondMon, 18 Mar 2019 10:41:34 +0000https://cfamedia.ng/?p=54502Many hopes have been placed on Nigerian Startups, to change the narratives for the country, through evolving ideas and solutions that can impact positively on the Nigerian economy. Is the Startups ecosystem achieving this objective? If yes, what more can be done to improve on this? If not, why and what can be done to […]

]]>Many hopes have been placed on Nigerian Startups, to change the narratives for the country, through evolving ideas and solutions that can impact positively on the Nigerian economy. Is the Startups ecosystem achieving this objective? If yes, what more can be done to improve on this? If not, why and what can be done to steer the sector towards the right path?

I recently met Emilia Asim-Ita, CEO, AML Practice and she shed some light on this and other burning issues relating to the Startups ecosystem, of which she is well conversant.

CFA: Emilia, you’re welcome to Tech Trends.

Emilia: Thank you so much, CFA, for having me.

CFA: Can you share your opinion on the Startup ecosystem with us?

Emilia: I am glad you used the word, Startup ecosystem and not tech ecosystem. I will say it’s stagnating. It’s difficult to give you empirical evidence, but you would find that, an industry, or a sector or an ecosystem that is not growing, that has not disrupted any new sector in a while, that you haven’t seen significance in the growth, and sustainability of, even, some of its biggest ideas, cannot be growing.
That is why I would say that the Startup ecosystem is stagnant.

CFA: But, every time, we hear stories of ideas and solutions, those that are raising money locally and internationally.

Emilia: Okay, so, you know it is a generational debates and dialogues, so,we often throw up this belief that, there is nothing new, under the sun. To a great extent, it is true. When you sat new ideas, I don’t know how new, these ideas are. Most of them are African versions of very successful global ideas, so, you will hear a brand being called and I hate to name names, maybe like a Paystack, being called a strap for Africa, for instance and those have, perhaps, owned the fact that, yea,it is not a new idea under the sun, but we’ve been able to adapt it to the African context and it has worked so far. I’m not sure that there are new ideas in the ecosystem.

I worry that we have a proliferation of similar ideas, all trying to get funding from dwindling sources and those who have got funding just keep going round that circle of pitching, pitching and pitching. They don’t scale, so, you find that they remain Startups for over 5 years, when they should, by all standards and indices, be growth companies. That would be my concern about the ecosystem, otherwise, I think it’s very active. A lot of activities, but we need to be careful of activities without movement.